February is Fiber-aury month at the Community Winter Market. Rivendell Alpacas has been joining us each week with examples of their handmade quality fiber goods; from raw fibers to spin and beginner’s kits to assorted handmade products such as mittens, hats, slippers and beautiful scarves and toasty blankets. They have also been doing talks and small demos while offering sign-up and information for additional instruction, either privately or class setting.
Rivendell Alpacas started in 2000 when Jill and Gordon Muirhead moved from California to Gordon’s family farm in Plato Center, IL. Jill was already serious about alpacas and learning everything she could when the opportunity to start Rivendell Alpacas presented itself. Asked how they came up with the name they said it was in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings: “Rivendell was a safe place for the elves. We want our agisters to know that it is a safe place for the alpacas as well.”
Alpacas, though not native, are being productively raised and enjoyed throughout North America. They produce some of the world’s finest and most luxurious natural fibers. Fiber, which, is said to be almost indestructible and yet be healthy (being hypoallergenic and lavishly soft) and comfortable to wear due to the absence of the scratchy “prickle” with many other fibers. Furthermore, alpacas produce fleece that is available in over twenty colors with many variations. Having this astounding natural spectrum delights those that work with alpacas as it eliminates any need for dyeing. By removing this step from the process it further protects the fiber and enhances it’s resilience, softness and flexibility.
Rivendell Alpaca Farm can have over twenty alpacas at any given time. Though they do not wish to expand their herd far beyond that so that they can train the alpacas to be “human friendly”. Each fury friend has a name which one might come upon in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings “real” Rivendell. How do all the alpacas stay safe and secure you might be wondering. Francesca, the llama, is on guard duty and has proven herself a valuable protector.
Turkey expert and Geneva resident Renee Ferguson, known to some as the ‘Turkey Lady,’ will be signing her cookbook Saturday at the Geneva Green Market.
Mark Weaver, who with his wife Connie helps run the market at Inglenook Pantry, 11 N. Fifth St., said more vendors will be at the market this weekend and they expect a good turnout.
Ferguson’s expertise comes from the 14 years she previously worked for Butterball.
“I handled people’s turkey traumas,” Ferguson said.
She recalls an incident in which a customer called in for advice, asking whether the pop-up timer in their meat thermometer would change color. Ferguson said she advised the caller that it was not a pregnancy test.
“Everybody has a funny story about turkey,” Ferguson said. (read more)
Karen Stark has a challenge for all suburbanites: eat only locally produced meats, grains, fruits and vegetables this Thanksgiving.
It certainly sounds like a daunting task until Stark, a Geneva mom and coordinator of the town’s winter farmers market, explains that within a 100-mile radius of the ‘burbs you can find farmers raising free-range turkeys and beef, growing sweet potatoes and pumpkins and milling flour for biscuits and pie crusts. Cast the net a little wider and you can enjoy wild rice from Minnesota and cranberries from Wisconsin bogs and chestnuts from Michigan. (read more) …”Give thanks for food”.
Giving thanks to the season’s harvests was a centuries-old tradition held by most cultures around the world. After the autumn harvest, communities held long feasts celebrating the season’s harvest and gatherings for the winter months. It wasn’t till the mid-1600’s that Thanksgiving, as we know it today, began to take shape. Fasting forward several hundred years, it was as recently as 1941 that President Roosevelt signed a bill that established the fourth Thursday of every November as Thanksgiving Day. This has been followed by every state in the union since 1956. Today Thanksgiving still remains centered around food and feasting surrounded by family and friends.
In the spirit of giving and being thankful we at the Geneva Green Market, NFP and would like to take this opportunity to thank all the chiefs, GGM, NFP members, merchants and volunteers whose continual hard work and dedication make this market feasible season after season. We would especially like to thank our faithful farmers, vendors and customers. Join us in Thanking our farmers and in showing how much we appreciate them in providing fresh food from there fields to our tables.
If you haven’t ordered your Thanksgiving Day turkey there is still time to do so. Visit us at genevagreenmarket.org/farmers. If you did not pre-order a turkey, there will be some turkeys available for purchase at the market on a first come, first serve basis. Come early to get yours.
Feeling overwhelmed by your big bird? Join us from 9-12 as “Talk Turkey to Me” author Renee Ferguson joins us to answer your turkey questions. She will have copies of her book available for purchase. Full of how- to’s, how not to’s, tips, instructions and recipes that can be used year round. A great resource to have on hand for those times Renee can’t personally be in your kitchen. She will sign copies, which can be a nice, personalized hostess gift.
If all this talk of turkey got your tummies rumbling be sure to stay afterwards as Jennifer Downing of Nourish shows you how to dry brine and bake a Black Spanish turkey. She’ll also show you a few excellent sides that will pair up perfectly with your bird. The best part is that’ll you’ll find most of the ingredients right at the market. After a tasty sample, enjoy a wine sample from Galena Cellars Vineyard & Winery-Geneva. All this should provide great inspiration for our 3rd annual Thanksgiving Localvore Challenge. Deadline for submissions is December 1st.
From our family to yours
Happy Thanksgiving!
Where: Food Network Channel
Who: Bobby Flay & Renee Ferguson
What: Throwdown with Bobby Flay: Turkey & Dressing
When :
Sat. November 21st 2009 10:30
Sun. November 22nd 2009 1:30 am et/pt & 11:00 pm et/pt
Where: Food Network Channel
Nothing brings people together like a mouth-watering Thanksgiving turkey, and Renee Ferguson of Geneva, Illinois is the ultimate turkey expert. This former Butterball Talk- Line “Call Girl” and author of “Talk Turkey to Me,” thinks she is making turkey and dressing for a Food Network Special called “Talkin’ Turkey.” What she doesn’t know is that Bobby Flay is working on his own version of the perfect bird. Will beating the Iron Chef be gravy for this queen of turkey or will Bobby gobble up the competition? One thing is for sure, this will be a Thanksgiving Throwdown to remember.
Get to meet Renee Ferguson in person Sat., November 21st, 2009 from 9am-noon at the Community Winter Market at Inglenook Pantry in Geneva, IL. You’ll be able to get signed copies of her book and ask her your very own questions.
This year the Geneva Green Market, NFP is having a localvore essay contest to accompany the Localvore Thanksgiving Challenge. To participate one must strive to come as close to eating 100% locally grown food for your Thanksgiving meal as possible. To participate, write a 250-word essay, discussing the experience of purchasing local ingredients as well as eating the meal itself.
The winner will receive a $100 gift certificate for the Community Winter Market, and their essay will be published in the GGM, NFP’s newsletter. Email your essays to genevagreenmarket [at] gmail [dot] com by 12/1/09.
The Geneva Green Market, NFP wants to thank all of you for supporting both the Geneva Green Market and the Community Winter Market. Both markets have grown exponentially, which has been a big gift to the community.
If you can’t make it to the Saturday market and are interested in having the the market on a second day, please email us at genevagreenmarket [at] gmail [dot] com.
Here are some colorful salad recipes to share with family made with the foods that you purchase from the market.
Thanksgiving Golden Beet, Yam and Apple Salad from eatdrinkbetter.com
The recipe is simple. First boil and roast the beets and yams. Then let cool, slice some organic apples and the golden beets together with the yams or sweet potatoes Read more
Today I cooked a broad-breasted white turkey from R-Family Farms for an instructional video we were shooting. I brined the bird with orange zest, coriander, honey and cider vinegar. After brining, I grilled the turkey over charcoal and hickory.
The bird was about 17 pounds and cooked up in about 3 1/2 hours. The turkey browned beautifully, cooked evenly and came off the grill looking like a magazine cover-shot (if I do say so myself…). We tasted out the bird with crackers and a little chutney. It was flavorful, moist and beautifully carried the flavors of the brine and the smoke from the grill.
The white meat was juicy and tender, and the dark meat was rich and flavorful. And everyone’s favorite part, the skin, had a crisp bite and was intense with smokey flavor and orange and coriander aromatics.
Thanks to Cindee from R-Family for bringing the bird over to us. After the great experience I had yesterday, I will definately be ordering my Thanksgiving turkeys from R-Family farm!
Matthew Lennert of Moveable Feast Geneva, Inc.
www.moveablefeastgeneva.com
321 Franklin St
Geneva, IL 60134
630.845.3287
mlennert [at] sbcglobal [dot] net
Cindee of The R Family Farm
Poplar Grove, IL 61065
815.519.4341
cjrobinson0217 [at] msn [dot] com
If I cook from frozen do I have to use a power drill to put the meat thermometer in?
Great question but way ahead of the class! Hey! I’m Renee Ferguson and just to let you know I’ve handled America’s turkey trauma for over 15 years! And, yes, that is a real question I answered and one that I will let you know about as we get closer to T-Day.
Having worked for the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line, I’ve answered many frazzled cooks questions. So I am here at the Community Winter Market, November 21, 2009 to guide you to a successful and less stressful Thanksgiving Day turkey. Even if you know your way around a drumstick there are questions to be answered and this Turkey Lady will do her best to help you become your own Holiday Hero.
The big question at this point in the game in early November is does size really matter. Well for sure! If you want to have ample portions but little or no leftovers plan on 1 pound per person. If you want to savor delicious turkey sandwiches the next day, or you have plans for some scrumptious casseroles in the days ahead you better plan on 1 ½ pounds of turkey per person. Sounds like a lot well think about this you’ve got to remember you are not buying a boneless, skinless cut of meat. The overall weight when you buy a turkey includes bones, packaging, giblets and something called drip weight. So plan ahead and buy 1 ½ pounds per person you can always freeze your leftovers for another day.
I invite you to visit my website at TurkeyTools.com if you need to Talk Turkey to Me or pick up your copy of my cookbook, Talk Turkey to Me, at Inglenook Pantry, 11 North 5th Street, Geneva IL on your next trip to the Community Winter Market. Find out why the FOOD NETWORK featured me as a turkey expert in a Throwdown! with Bobby Flay!
